A donation of used building materials from the Tyne and Wear Metro has delivered a major boost to a Northumberland visitor attraction, which is being restored to its former glory. 

The Woodhorn Narrow Gauge Railway in Ashington is being revived by a group of volunteers, who hope to have it back up and running later this year. 

Metro operator Nexus has donated surplus materials from its multi-million-pound renewal project at Whitley Bay Metro station, which is almost complete. 

Items include 50 tonnes of concrete ballast blocks, 200 scaffolding boards, 40 timber posts, and 54 pieces of plywood sheeting. The concrete blocks will allow the volunteers to build a retaining wall and create a ballast store .

Many of the items could have been destined for landfill sites, so using them in this way underscores Nexus’ own commitment to sustainability and social value.  

It follows on from an annual Nexus volunteer day, which saw members of the track maintenance team give up their spare time to help the volunteers at Woodhorn install track.

Sarah McManus, Head of Renewals at Nexus said: “We’re delighted to be able to help this exciting restoration project. 

“A raft of surplus materials from the Whitley Bay station renewal scheme will be playing a hugely important role for the Woodhorn railway, which has the potential to be a fantastic local tourist attraction for the region. 

“By re-using these items in this way, it supports our own commitment to work sustainably in everything that we do, helping the voluntary sector where we can.

“The concrete blocks and wood panels will go to very good use, instead of the prospect of it all just going to a landfill site. 

“This builds on our recent volunteer scheme where colleagues gave up their own time and expertise to help Woodhorn with their track installation works. We wish them every success with the project.” 

Colin Heath, Volunteer Co-ordinator at the Woodhorn Narrow Gauge Railway, said: “This donation is important as we are a voluntary group who are restoring a railway without any official funding. 

“We are grateful to Nexus for their support. We rely on donations like this to make progress. The concrete blocks will be particularly useful. This will save us time and money. 

“We started the project in 2023 as a wellbeing group, looking to restore the engines, but it snowballed from there and we decided to take on the challenge of bringing the entire railway back into use. 

“We’ve restored three quarters of the line and the infrastructure that goes with it. There’s about 400 metres of line left to go, and we are aiming to be open by the end of October this year. 

“Nexus has also given us great support through their employee volunteer days, where some of the Metro workers gave up their time to lay some of the track and ballast. That’s how the link up came about. 

“They had a lot of spare building materials from their project at Whitley Bay, and we were more than happy to take it and put it to good use.”

Gateshead-based G&B Civil Engineering carried out the renewal work at Whitley Bay Metro station on behalf of Nexus.   

Lewis Axon, Construction Manager at G&B, said: “It’s nice to know the materials are getting a second life rather than ending up in a skip somewhere, which is always our last option. The volunteers were genuinely grateful and already had plenty of ideas for putting everything to good use, which definitely makes the effort worthwhile. 

“It’s not every day leftover materials get this much appreciation, so it’s great to see them going somewhere they’ll actually make a difference rather than just becoming expensive hardcore.” 

Woodhorn Narrow Gauge Railway originally opened in the 90s after track, three carriages, and an underground engine turned training engine from Vane Tempest Colliery in County Durham were donated in 1991.

It ran successfully for more than 20 years and acquired two more engines, one used to build the Channel Tunnel, and an underground mining shunter train. However, the railway closed in 2018 due to a lack of volunteers and its condition deteriorated.

The track runs from Woodhorn Museum to the lakeside in the nearby Queen Elizabeth II Country Park.

The Woodhorn volunteers have already returned the railway’s three engines to working order and are close to completing the restoration of its one-kilometre network of track, as well as attempting to recruit more volunteers to the project. 

For more information about the project go to www.woodhornrailway.com